Device for teaching penmanship



J. n. WEWILLIAMS.

} DEVICE FOR TEACHING PENMANSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13, 1920.

' 1,343,244. PatentedJune 15,1920;

WITNESSES 1 I lNl/E/VTUR 1' W mlluuflg A TTOR/VEYS UNITED STATES PATENT creme.

JACOB, ID. W. WILLIAMS, OF TABOR, NORTH CAROLINA.

DEVICE iron; 'rnaorrme PENMANSHIP.

7 Application filed March 13.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that. I, JACOB D. W. WIL- nuus, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Tabor, in the county .of Columbus and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Teaching Penmansh p; of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for teaching penmanship, and the purpose of my nvention is the provision of a simple and efficient device of this character which exercises and trains the muscles to accurately Referring specifically to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 2,;13 designates a board or plate form compris ng a. large section 15 and a small section 16, the latter being spaced from the former but rigidly connected thereto at its underside by strips 17 carrying feet 18 preferably formed of rubber which are designed to support the board in slightly elevated position to permitthe requisite freedom of movement of certain of the movable members comprised in the device.

The upper side of the board B is covered by a thin sheet S of metal or other suitable material which is bent along its longitudinal edges and secured to the under side of the sections 15 and 16, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. This sheet S is provided with a slot 19 in which works a pin or projection 20 secured to a lever L. The lever L is arranged upon the under side of the board B at a point between the sections 15 and 16 and is pivoted at one end to the section 15 by an ear 21. The pin 20 is rigidly connected to the lever L at a point adjacent its free end so that when the pin is reciprocated within the slot 19, an oscillatory movement is imparted to the lever.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the up er end of the pin 20 is journaled within a guide plate P arranged upon the upper side of the board B. The plate P in the present inspecifi a i n of Letters P Patented June 15,1920.

19 0. Serial o. 365.657.

stance is of ovate formation and is formed of transparent material such as celluloid or the like. As shown in Fig. 1, the pin20 connected to the plate P adjacent oneof its is journaled in'the section 15 of the board B and is connected to the plate P by a screw 22 in such manner that upon rotation of the crank a rotary movement is imparted to the plate, the pin 2.0 allowing this rotary move- 'ment but restricting the same in such manner that the plate is caused'to describe an ovate movement. The crankis actuated through the medium of a handle 22 formed on its upper end which is adapted to be gripped by the operator. For varying the ovate movement'of the plate P, the latter is provided with a plurality .of openings 23 into any one of which may be inserted the screw 22. As shown in Fig. 3,, the screw 22 is adjustable on and 'detachably connected to the crankso that itcanbe removed when changing the crank from one opening to 23 are disposed at various angles with relation to the pin 20 .so that by changing the crank from oneopening to another, the movement of the plateP canbe varied to describe a figure of more or. less ovate formation. f

To vary the size of the oval described by a pencil, the crank G is providedwith -aserifes ends, while adjacent the opposite end av .crankC iscOnnected thereto. The crank C another. As shown in Fig. 1, the openings of openings 0 having screw threaded walls .so that any one of such openings can threaded'ly r i e t c w 2, s h wn. in Fig. 3-

At a point between the crank C and the pin 20, the plate is provided with a series of perforations 24 and into any one of these perforations the point of a pencil is adapted to be inserted and held so that when the plate P is moved by the actuation of the crank C, the pencil point will be caused to move in the path of an oval. As shown in Fig. 3-, the plate P is slightly spaced from the sheet S for'the purpose of permitting the insertion of a sheet of paper between the two. With the sheet of paper disposed beneath the plate 1 it is obvious that with a pencil held within one of the perforations 24, a figure of ovate formation will be described by the pencil upon the paper. The formation of the figure may be varied in accordance with the position of the pencil within the plate P, that is to say, that with a more decided oval will be described than with the pencil in the opening nearest to the crank o a In the practical operation of the device,

the crank C is actuated by the teacher, while the pupil holds the pencil in vertical position through one of the openings 24 so that the pupils arm is caused to describe an oval thereby exercising and training the muscles of the hand and arm in the formation of such a figure. It is well known that the oval constitutes the fundamentalfigure in enmanship so that after a pupils muscles have been trained to accurately form such a figure, a great stride has been made toward ;teaching the pupil to write 'legibly and rapidly. I

It is tobe particularly noted that my def vice permits the accurate formation of an oval by a pupil without subjecting the muscles of the arm and hand to any strain'in retaining the pencilin proper position within the plate, so that the necessary freedom of movement of the arm and hand is maintained while at the same time a guiding of the two is merely effected. In all devices of this character with which I am familiar it is necessaryto exert some lateral pressure upon the pencil to maintain it in proper position. This naturally causes a tension upon the muscles of the arm and hand which necessarily means a tensioning of the muscles so that the requisite freedom of movement' of the arm and hand cannot be secured',;thus defeating the very purpose for which it is' intended.

Although I haveherein shown and described only one form of device embodving my invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made herein wlthout departing from the spirit of the invention or the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

hat I claim is: v

1. A device of the character described comprising, a board having a slot therein,

a lever pivoted on the board and arranged on its under side, a projection working within said slot and operatively connected to said lever, a crank journaled in the board, a handle" formed on said crank, and a transparent perforated plate arranged upon the upper side of the board and coni nected to said pin and crank in such man-.

nor as to e'fi'ect an ovate movement of the plate when said crank is. rotated. i I

2. A device of. the character described comprising, a board, a platehaving perforations formed therein to receive a pencil point, said plate being spaced from the board to permit the insertion of; afsheet of paper therebetween, and means carried by said board for effecting a movement of said plate to cause a pencil held within one of its perforationsto describe an ovalon the sheet of paper. v v s v v 3. A device of the character described comprising, a board includingi sections spacedapart "from each other, a sheet of r V :-.70

material covering the upper sideof said board and spanning the space between said sections, said material being provided with a slot in that portion which.

spans said sections, a lever pivoted to one of the sections and disposed at the under side of the board, a pin carried by said lever and working within said slot, a trans ';board for imparting an ovate movement thereto, said. means being adjustably associated with the plate'to var'y the degree'oi movement of the latter. i v I 3 JACOB D. W. \VILLIAMS. 

